stonecrandall Chapter 140 Cultivation Begins
Chapter 140 Cultivation Begins
The next day, Boruto encountered Shikamaru in the plaza outside the Hokage Building, so Boruto strode towards him.
Boruto approached Shikamaru and called out, "Yo, Shikamaru, long time no see! How did your mission go?" Since Shikamaru is back, it means his father has returned to Konoha.
When Shikamaru heard Boruto mention the mission, a hint of helplessness immediately appeared on his face.
He had just told the Fifth Hokage in the Hokage's office, while reporting the results of the mission, that he still had some areas where he lacked experience.
Whether it was a misperception or not, he immediately noticed that the Hokage was overjoyed and immediately said that he would assign him more tasks in the future so that he could accumulate more experience and improve his ability to complete tasks.
This means that I will be plagued by a lot of troubles in the future and will be treated terribly.
After letting out a soft sigh, Shikamaru continued, "Well, thanks to everyone's excellent teamwork, the mission went relatively smoothly this time. However, Naruto did get injured and is currently recuperating in the hospital."
Boruto nodded upon hearing the news. He knew his father's personality of always being the first to rush in, preferring to suffer more injuries himself rather than let his companions get hurt, so injuries were inevitable for him.
Boruto then asked Shikamaru, who told him the details of their mission to support Sunagakure.
......
The Sand Village has recently begun to emulate the education system of the Leaf Village, systematically training the new generation of ninjas, with Gaara and his two siblings serving as instructors.
However, a group of people claiming to be the Four Celestial Elephants challenged Gaara, who was considered the ultimate weapon of Sunagakure. They eventually captured hostages and fled from the Land of Rivers to the Land of Fire, prompting Sunagakure to seek assistance from Konoha.
In order to repay the Sand Village for their help in the previous mission to retrieve Sasuke, the Hidden Leaf Village naturally took on the responsibility without hesitation, and sent a ninja team, including Naruto, to provide support, with Shikamaru as the squad leader.
......
After Shikamaru finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Boruto and continued, "I heard that you and Naruto are planning to train with Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, and it looks like it will take quite a long time."
"This is really troublesome." Shikamaru smiled helplessly. "You and I both became Chunin at the same time, but I feel like you'll be even stronger when you come back this time, until you leave us far behind."
Boruto gently scratched the back of his head and replied, "Hahaha, don't say that. We're all just working hard on the paths we've chosen. Everyone's pace of growth is different. The important thing is that we're all constantly moving forward, aren't we?"
Shikamaru chuckled lightly: "However, after you and Naruto leave with Jiraiya, the village will definitely become much quieter."
At this moment, Boruto asked, "Are Gaara and the others still in Konoha?"
Shikamaru shrugged helplessly: "Yeah, because Gaara is also recuperating in the Konoha hospital, Temari and the others are staying here temporarily. She keeps making fun of me. Honestly, women are such a hassle."
"Speaking of which, I still need to take them to prepare a place for them to stay later, so I'll be leaving now." After saying goodbye to Boruto, Shikamaru turned around and prepared to leave.
Boruto waved to Shikamaru: "Alright, then I'll go visit Naruto first. See you later."
"Ah."
......
Boruto arrived at Konoha Hospital and asked the medical ninja at the front desk for directions to Naruto's room. He then quickly walked down the long corridor in that direction.
Boruto had already arrived at Naruto's bedside and found him resting with his eyes closed, unaware of his arrival. Boruto then quietly sat down by the bedside.
After a period of silence, Naruto finally opened his eyes, and Boruto greeted him with a smile: "How are you feeling? Are you feeling any better?"
Naruto looked very surprised to see Boruto. He pointed at Boruto and said with displeasure, "Hey! Boruto! You actually came back!?"
"Don't you know how painful it is to be left out of a mission? And where is that perverted sage now!?"
Boruto felt somewhat embarrassed by Naruto's questioning. He forced a smile and explained, "Well... he's in a post town outside Konoha right now. We can set off once you've recovered..."
Boruto noticed the dissatisfaction on Naruto's face, so he made a suggestion to Naruto in an attempt to make amends: "How about I teach you a ninjutsu I recently learned as compensation after a while?"
Upon hearing Boruto's suggestion, Naruto's expression softened considerably. He nodded and accepted Boruto's proposal: "Oh, okay."
At that moment, Naruto suddenly gave Boruto a smug smile: "No matter what missions you and the perverted sage have been on recently, none of them have been as challenging as the ones I've been on this mission! My mission this time was at least an A-rank mission, and that's the best proof of that."
As Naruto spoke, he showed Boruto his arm, which was wrapped in bandages, to emphasize the difficult mission he had gone through.
In contrast, Naruto noticed that Boruto had no obvious injuries, suggesting that Boruto and the Perverted Sage had a much easier time on this mission than he did.
After a day or two of rest at Konoha Hospital, Naruto's injuries had fully healed, and he was discharged from the hospital to begin his training.
Boruto and Naruto are also ready to set off for Shukuba Town to find Jiraiya and begin their training journey.
At that moment, Naruto stood at the door, his gaze fixed on the Team 7 group photo on the counter. This photo was taken after Boruto joined Team 7 to commemorate the new team composition.
Boruto stood quietly outside the door, waiting patiently. After a moment, Naruto slowly closed the door.
Boruto and Naruto were on a mountain peak outside Konoha Village, overlooking the entire village, and muttered to themselves: Wait for me.
......
After bidding farewell to Konoha Village, Boruto and Naruto embarked on their journey to Shukuba Town.
After traveling for some time, they finally arrived at the post town outside Konoha Village: "I remember it was just ahead of here." Boruto led Naruto through the town's streets based on his memory and found the location of the inn where Jiraiya had stayed earlier.
"Ah! I see it! It's the Perverted Sage!" Naruto suddenly stretched out his hand excitedly, pointed forward, and shouted loudly.
Upon hearing the shouts, Boruto looked in the direction Naruto was pointing and saw Jiraiya running towards them at high speed. His movements seemed hurried, as if something was chasing him.
Boruto then looked closely and saw that Jiraiya was followed by a large group of people. They were carrying various cleaning supplies, such as bathtubs and mops, and they were extremely agitated, shouting loudly, "Don't let that old pervert get away!"
Judging from the current situation, it is clear that Jiraiya did not know which bathhouse he was spying in and was accidentally exposed, which led to his embarrassing situation and being chased by everyone.
Jiraiya spotted Boruto and Naruto at that moment and immediately waved his arms excitedly, shouting loudly, "Boruto, Naruto! You two come help me!"
Upon hearing Jiraiya's shout, the group's gazes shifted rapidly, and surprise appeared on their faces: "What? This lecherous old man has such a young accomplice?"
They then quickly exchanged glances and shouted excitedly, "Quickly capture these lecherous accomplices! Don't let a single one of them escape!"
Immediately, the large group of people who had been closely chasing Jiraiya split into three groups and headed towards them, which relieved a lot of the pressure on Jiraiya.
As Naruto ran at top speed, he muttered angrily, "That damned perverted sage!"
After being chased for several streets, they finally found an opportunity and ran into a narrow alley, thus shaking off their pursuers.
Naruto leaned forward slightly, supporting himself with his hands, then glared at Jiraiya, his voice filled with displeasure: "Perverted Sage! Why did you drag us into this!"
When faced with Naruto's questioning, Jiraiya chuckled and said, "Hehehe... This is the first step in my training for you, okay? Besides, you guys are really slow to arrive, and you're not very enthusiastic about training."
Upon hearing Jiraiya's complaints, Naruto's emotions immediately flared up: "You filthy lecherous sage! You so proudly said you'd take us as your disciples and teach us how to train, but what have you been doing all this time?!"
Jiraiya explained, "Didn't I tell you before? I went out to gather intelligence."
Naruto was full of disdain for Jiraiya's words, and couldn't help but curl his lip and say sarcastically, "Your so-called intelligence mission is probably just some intelligence gathering about older sisters' physical data, right? Your excuses are just as untrustworthy as Kakashi-sensei's excuses when he's late."
Boruto then stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, we were indeed gathering intelligence on the Akatsuki that time."
"The Akatsuki?"
Naruto looked surprised when he heard Boruto's words. He hadn't expected their mission target to be the Akatsuki organization.
Jiraiya nodded slightly: "Don't underestimate me, I can be very serious at crucial moments."
......
After hiding for a short time, Jiraiya cautiously peeked out from the secluded alley, quickly scanning his surroundings. Only after confirming that the bathhouse staff were no longer nearby did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Jiraiya gestured to Boruto and Naruto, signaling them to follow him, then turned and walked quickly toward the inn where he had been staying.
Jiraiya led Boruto and the others into the room and then closed the door tightly.
Naruto plopped down on the bed without any hesitation, and then asked Jiraiya a direct question: "Hey, you perverted sage, how are we supposed to train?"
Boruto, with a hint of joking, quipped, "Are we supposed to live a life of thirst for dew and hunger for insects in some deep mountain somewhere?"
At this moment, Jiraiya abandoned his usual demeanor, his face becoming unusually serious as he glanced between Boruto and Naruto: "Regarding your training, I will use different methods to train you."
Jiraiya took Naruto away from Konoha and embarked on a training journey. This was not only to improve Naruto's strength, but also partly to protect him from the threat of the Akatsuki organization.
Although the Akatsuki organization was powerful, it was not easy for them to find Jiraiya and Naruto, whose whereabouts were elusive.
Jiraiya paused briefly before continuing, "I plan to have Naruto travel the ninja world with me, honing his abilities through real combat and experience."
Then Jiraiya said to Boruto, "As for you, Boruto, I plan to send you to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Mode from the Toad Sage."
"Sage Arts?" Boruto looked surprised when he heard Jiraiya's suggestion, clearly not expecting that Jiraiya would arrange for him to go to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Arts.
Naruto's eyes gleamed with excitement as he eagerly pressed Jiraiya, "What are Sage Techniques? They sound amazing! You perverted sage! I want to learn Sage Techniques too!"
Jiraiya slowly shook his head and explained to Naruto, "No, you're different from Boruto. Your ability to apply the basics of ninjutsu is too poor." What Naruto needs most right now is to strengthen and solidify his ninjutsu fundamentals.
"Also, you are currently unable to control Kurama's chakra. If you forcibly learn Sage Mode in this state, it may not only stimulate Kurama, but also risk turning you into a toad statue due to excessive intake of natural energy."
After hearing Jiraiya's explanation, Naruto was somewhat disappointed, but he understood that Jiraiya's words were for his own safety, and he temporarily put aside his idea of learning Sage Mode.
Jiraiya continued, "Boruto, Sage Mode is an extremely powerful force that can greatly enhance the power of your ninjutsu. The toad sage of Mount Myōboku is an expert in this field, and he can teach you how to use this power correctly."
Jiraiya asked them, "Are you both ready?"
Boruto clenched his fist and replied, "Yeah, I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time!"
After receiving their confirmation, Jiraiya nodded slightly: "Then, Boruto, you can rest here for the night, and I will take you to Mount Myōboku tomorrow."
Boruto seemed somewhat agitated; after all, Mount Myōboku was still an unknown territory for him.